Paddy Power Betfair to boost marketing budget by £20m

Peter Jackson, chief executive of Paddy Power Betfair, has revealed plans to commit an additional £20m (€22.4m/$27.8m) to marketing efforts in 2018.

According to The Telegraph, the move comes after the company admitted to losing market share to rival operators over the past year.

Jackson said the additional spend will help encourage customers to stay with the company after its pace of product development slowed down after the focus on the merger of the Paddy Power and Betfair businesses.

Paddy Power Betfair spent £300m on marketing in 2017 and had already been due to spend more this year due to the Fifa World Cup national team contest, but this amount will now be increased further.

“To get the integration done quickly we had to stop all product development and so Paddy Power has lost market share and is a little bit behind from a product perspective,” Jackson said, according to The Telegraph.

The move comes after Paddy Power Betfair yesterday (Wednesday) posted its preliminary results for 2017, revealing year-on-year growth across revenue, underlying operating profit and underlying EBITDA.

Paddy Power Betfair noted an impressive performance by its retail business in the period and, as such, Jackson said there is no danger that the company will close any of its 354 shops.

UK bookmakers are currently awaiting the verdict of the government’s review of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which could see the maximum stake on the machines lowered from £100 to just £2.

While some operators have warned that the move could force them to make cuts, Jackson is supportive of plans to lower the stake, saying it needs to “come down substantially”.

“Frankly, if they try to fudge it, it will only cause more problems,” Jackson said.

“[However] I think there are some scare stories of the impact on jobs, tax take and horse racing.”

Related article: Sports betting drives revenue growth at Paddy Power Betfair